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Battle of Tetanus
Covenant Contact 02/14/2542 At 0100 hours an unknown and unscheduled Slip space rupture was detected at the outer edge of the planet's orbit. Long range scans from ONI Station Two picked up a fleet of Eight Covenant ships. Unsure how the Covenant found the secrete out post on Tetanus, ONI mobilized the battle group stationed at Station Two alongside the station defense fleet, to engage the Covenant threat and protect the orbital station as well as the vital military weapons test facility on the planet's surface. With Admiral Sibbet in charge of all naval units aboard his flag ship the UNSC Augustus, he spread his forces into three battle groups. With Admiral Wakefield leading battle group set to defend the immediate orbit around Tetanus, Wakefield's fleet was call signed Shield. Sibbet led battle group Sword, who would advance along the left side of Battle group Shield and engage the enemy. On the Right side of battle group shield, pushing around the outer edge of the system using the mining stations and asteroid belt to cover the approach, was newly promoted Rear Admiral Dravere's battle group Javelin. Battle group Shield was the first to be engaged by a wave of Covenant plasma torpedoes. It wasn't long before the Covenant fleet split into two groups. One battle cruiser and four Corvettes, pushed towards battle group Javelin. The other made close range contact with Battle group Sword. For the opening phases of the battle, the tide was turned to the Covenant fleet. Battle group Sword lost three of its seven frigates before the shields on the first Corvette failed. Battle group Shield was in an equally bad way. The Covenant fleet opened fire with a barrage of Plasma torpedoes, most of which the ship's point defense turrets managed to eliminate prior to impact and whose heavy Titanium armor with stood. The Corvettes launched a barrage of Plasma cannons against the frigates crippling one of the Frigate's weapon systems. With the UNSC in retaliation, Battle group Javelin launched a massed Archer missile barrage at the CCS battle cruiser but had no effect. Battle group Shield, though battered still mostly undamaged, opened fire with their MAC guns on the leading Corvettes. The salvo completely obliterated the two Corvettes directly in their path. A follow up storm of Archer missiles crippled another behind the lead ships. Surviving the return fire from the covenant, the ships of battle group Shield and Javelin were able to get into position to unleash a full barrage of MAC rounds. Close to a dozen MAC rounds tore into the cruiser, collapsing it's shields and shredding the armor and ship systems below. With it's engine's cut out from the rest of the hull, the ship became a lifeless husk. With no power to seal off the bulkheads, the breaches in space caused by the MAC rounds and the following Archer missiles prevented any means to keep the atmosphere in the ship ultimately meaning doom for the crew. The last of the corvettes managed to escape into the asteroid field and enacted a bloody revenge on the UNSC, destroying three more Frigates in their escape. As the CCS Battle Cruiser Judge of Faith, moved into position behind the UNSC Augustus with its SDV escorts, a cannonade of plasma fire destroyed the Frigate escort before crippling the heavy cruiser. Though the Augustus tried to abandon the ship, multiple strikes from the Jude of Faith's plasma lance cut the ship in half, sending the remains tumbling into the nearby Asteroid. With the Flag ship destroyed, command went to rear admiral Wakefield aboard the UNSC Texas. The admiral took stock of the situation and with Battle Group Shield all but destroyed, he rallied with rear Admiral Dravere and joined the UNSC Heimdall in Battle Group Javelin. Bringing the battle Group out of the asteroid belt, Admiral Wakefield screamed his ships to the far side of the planet to engage the remaining Covenant Battle Cruiser and finish off its corvette escorts. It didn't take long before a trio of MAC rounds blew the trailing covenant Corvette to pieces and the Texas and Heimdall were bearing down on the Covenant's Judge of Faith. Launching MAC rounds and Archer missiles at the fleeing cruiser, they caused minimal damage, but was still enough to slow the ship down from rallying with the three Corvettes operating in the Asteroid belt. Not willing to let the covenant escape and threaten the location of the planet, Admiral Wakefield ordered his Naval Security Squads to mount up and prepare to board the Covenant Cruiser. The four pelican drop ships launch under the cover of another Archer missile barrage. Ship Assault Under the command of Chief Petty Officer Willmore, the Sixty heavy assault troops closed in on the Covenant Cruiser. Taking fire from the Cruiser's defense weapons the pelicans began evasive maneuvers to close the gap. Using the Drop ships' missile pods to open a gap for the assault squads to enter, the pelicans closed in. Leading his squads through out the ship, Willmore's first objective was to secure the nearest hanger for extraction as well as the engines. Splitting his team up, the Chief Petty officer led thirty troops from the aft section of the ship towards the stern, while Petty Officer Second Class Caulfield led the second strike team towards the engine room. Armed with MA5 Assault Rifles and Shotguns, the assault teams were able to move quickly on their objectives. At each bulk head, Elite security teams reinforced by Lances of Unggoy and Kig Yar troops, stood in the way of the assault teams. Out fitted with extra grenades, the assault squads were able to push on through. In ten minutes Chief Petty Officer WIllmore had secured the hanger deck. With their extraction zone located, he ordered the Pelican drop ships to land in the hanger and wait for their return. CPO Willmore held back two counter thrusts into the hanger until a squad of troops under the command of a Petty Officer First Class arrived to guard the hanger. With the Engines, and the hanger bay in UNSC hands, the CPO led his force to the bridge. Fighting through the maze of the ship, the assault group never found the bridge, but did locate the missile and fighter launch control chamber. Killing the elite's and grunts manning their posts. Seeing that two boarding craft are full of Covenant troops to counter board, the CPO jettisons them out into space. At the same time, Petty Officer Caulfield reports the explosives in the engine room are set and ready to detonate. CPO Willmore gives the order to detonate the charges, then quickly retreat back to the hanger for extraction. The ship trembles from the explosion and power to the ship drops to 22% yield. With the damage done, the assault squads retreat to the hanger. With lights on emergency lighting and the risk to the ship being critical, 'Tesamee launches a full scale assault on the hangers to push the assault troops out or failing that, destroy their escape route. When Caulfield's troops arrived at the hanger, Willmore's team was fighting hard to keep the swarm of covenant back from the multiple entry points on the three levels. With the fifteen men and Petty Officer First Class Caulfield's arrival, the assault teams begin to board the pelicans under heavy suppressive fire. With the added firepower from the HMGs mounted on the rear doors of the Pelicans, the assault troops were able to safely get aboard. As the drop ships fled, the battle cruiser's defense guns fired multiple barrages at them, but the skilled pilots avoided the incoming fire, returning safely to the UNSC Cruisers. 0400 Hours While the battle inside the Cruiser raged, the engagement for the navy was not going in their favor. Though they managed to destroy the surviving four corvettes under several MAC and Archer missile barrages, three more frigates were lost to the fire power of the battle cruiser. With only the UNSC Texas, Heimdall and the frigate UNSC Globetrotter in action and harassing the battle cruiser, the battle had taken a costly turn for the UNSC. As the pelican drop ships abandoned the cruiser's hangers, the Judge of Faith's engineers and drones managed to repair the core preventing it from going nova. Unfortunately for the Covenant, the amount of troops needed for damage assessment meant the loss of valuable crews to man the weapons and defenses. The victory of fixing the engine core was short lived as a barrage of Archer missiles from the three surviving UNSC ships tore through the outer walls and detonated the plasma drives. The crews in the rear of the ship were immolated before plasma fueled explosions swept through the halls until the entire ship was only pieces of rubble. Evacuation With the Covenant fleet destroyed, the surviving ships returned to the orbital space station for repairs. Miraculously the station had received no damage, though this was clearly attributed to the Covenant focusing on the UNSC ships and costing 96% of the fleet and thousands of lives. The ships limped home for quick repairs. An alert was sent to FleetCOM on Reach to alert them of the battle and that the Covenant know where the planet is. Though the fleet was destroyed, it won't be long before the aliens realize the missing fleet and send more to look for them. With their research facility being discovered. ONI ordered the Cole protocol to be enacted. The science teams were forced to transfer all the data they could to mobile devices and gather all the equipment they could move to prepare to get it off the planet. FleetCOM sent a reserve fleet to transport the technology and accompanying data back to safe sites located on Reach and Earth. With the Spartans of Omega Company on the surface, they received new orders to defend the outpost from any Covenant attacks, and assist the evacuation efforts any way they could. The reserve fleet arrived from Reach a week later. The navy decided to stay on station until the last moment. Opting not to leave until the Covenant entered the system or all the UNSC Heimdall and Texas were back in fighting order. Three weeks later the UNSC cruisers were refurbished for combat and ready to leave. With their transports set, the Spartan company boarded the Heimdall and watched as the reserve fleet escorted almost a dozen transport ships back to Reach and Earth. With their mission done, ONI ordered Omega Company to their next operation. They were to rally with the Carrier UNSC Trying Hope and her battle group above the planet Agarus. The UNSC bade their farewell to the planet by launching four MAC rounds into the heart of the facility fired from the UNSC Heimdall and Texas, and destroying the orbital station with explosives planted inside. The destruction was revealed when a Covenant fleet entered the system a week later. Category:Human-Covenant War Category:Battles